Grams · ml · fl oz · cups
How much coffee for how much water? Choose how you brew and how strong you like it.
Rinse the paper filter with hot water and tip it away. Add the coffee, pour about 2¼ times its weight in water to bloom for 30 seconds, then pour the rest slowly so the cone stays about half full, finishing in roughly 2½ to 3 minutes (the SCA’s two-cup pour-over guide).
The calculator multiplies your water by a strength in grams of coffee per litre. Pour-over, drip and French press start at 55 g of coffee per litre of water, the standard brew ratio in the Specialty Coffee Association’s home-brewer standard: about 1:18, or 13 g for an 8 fl oz cup. Slide towards “Stronger” for more coffee in the same water.
AeroPress, moka pot and cold brew concentrate start at common starting points rather than any standard, so treat them as a first try and adjust to taste.
| Method | Starts at | Slider range | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pour-over | 55 g/L (1:18.2) | 45–75 g/L (1:22.2 to 1:13.3) | SCA standard brew ratio |
| Drip machine | 55 g/L (1:18.2) | 45–75 g/L (1:22.2 to 1:13.3) | SCA standard brew ratio |
| French press | 55 g/L (1:18.2) | 45–80 g/L (1:22.2 to 1:12.5) | SCA standard brew ratio |
| AeroPress | 65 g/L (1:15.4) | 50–90 g/L (1:20.0 to 1:11.1) | Common starting point |
| Moka pot | 125 g/L (1:8.0) | 100–170 g/L (1:10.0 to 1:5.9) | Common starting point |
| Cold brew concentrate | 200 g/L (1:5.0) | 125–250 g/L (1:8.0 to 1:4.0) | Common starting point |
A cup is a US measuring cup of 8 fl oz (237 ml); coffee makers may count their “cups” differently. Water is also shown in grams, since a millilitre of water weighs about a gram. The tablespoon count is approximate, as ground coffee weighs different amounts per spoon, and “in the cup” takes off the water the wet grounds keep (about 2.5 g per gram of coffee in a laboratory study), so it is only a rough guide.
Time it, steep it, count it.
Dose and ratio become a bloom and pour schedule with a step timer.
Water temperature, steep time and leaf for each tea, with a timer.
Add up the day’s caffeine against published limits, and what is left at bedtime.
Concentrate ratio, steep window, yield and dilution.
Dose to yield for ristretto, normale and lungo, with a dial-in guide.
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Try WebTraceCheckThe Specialty Coffee Association’s home-brewer standard uses 55 g of coffee per litre of water, about 1:18. It is a well-tested starting point rather than a rule: if you like it stronger, slide towards “Stronger”, change one thing at a time and taste.
At 55 g per litre, an 8 fl oz cup (237 ml) of water needs about 13 g of coffee, or roughly 2½ level tablespoons if a tablespoon holds 5 g. Ground coffee can weigh 8 g or more per tablespoon, so a scale is more reliable than a spoon.
Wet grounds keep some water back. A laboratory study of immersion brewing measured about 2.5 g of liquid kept per gram of coffee, so 26 g of coffee holds back roughly 65 ml. The “in the cup” figure uses that as a rough estimate.
The SCA expects a home coffee brewer to keep the water at 90–96 °C (194–205 °F) while it meets the coffee, and its pour-over and French press guides use 93.5 °C (200 °F). A thermometer or a temperature-controlled kettle is the easiest way to check.